Liverpool-Man United arrives just in time to revive English pride
LONDON --
English soccer's participation in the 2014-15 European season, which was finally put out of its misery as Everton suffered a somewhat brutal removal from the Europa League by Dynamo Kiev on Thursday, underwent only a brief inquest.
The newspapers ran through the usual excuses. One, rejecting the old argument about the lack of a winter break, pointed out that Monaco had played just one game fewer than Arsenal this season -- and both Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona slightly more than Chelsea and Manchester City, respectively. In the case of each matchup, the Barclays Premier League team lost interest in the UEFA Champions League.
Yet the Premier League leads the world in terms of television appeal and therefore money, enabling its clubs to suck in pretty well any overseas talent that's surplus to the requirements of Spain's big two. The English clearly aren't organizing that talent cleverly enough. Maybe they have become too rich for their own good.
There is certainly a sense of self-obsession about the elite English game, as well as a long-standing pride in the ferocious competitiveness -- often described as ''passion'' -- of many contests. So what could be more timely this weekend than a renewal of the rivalry that most vividly testifies to our preference for raw emotion over brainpower? Yes, it's Liverpool versus Manchester United and, to tell you the truth, I'm among the millions who can hardly wait for it.
I am not greatly bothered that no Premier League teams remain in the Champions League's last eight. It's not as if people will stop following the Champions League avidly. Also, bear in mind that a mere seven seasons ago, the Premier League boasted four of the quarterfinalists, three of the four semifinalists and both of the finalists (Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties). No league, however financially bloated it may have become, can have got that soft that quickly.
Even though it was a shock to see how impressively the 10 men of PSG outplayed Chelsea -- the Premier League's best team by a long, long way -- at Stamford Bridge, those of us who love of football extends beyond the national border can only be excited by the prospect of Paris providing one of Europe's leading clubs, joining Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich as serious candidates to go all the way to the final in Berlin in June.
The English will enjoy better fortune when they have earned it and, with even more money due to pour in from the next overseas television deal -- to be done later this year -- the inflow of gifted players will accelerate. There is even speculation that Lionel Messi could be lured to London or Manchester. And Cristiano Ronaldo, for a second spell at United. English money is croaking at the moment, because it has caught a cold, but eventually it will talk again.
So, whether those currently out-performing the Premier League -- they include not only the Spanish, Italians and Germans but the Ukrainian and Belgian top divisions -- think it fair or not, England's drama kings can continue to walk with the confidence that its popularity will pay for a restoration, sooner or later, of Premier League prominence in Europe.
Liverpool, the first English club to exit the Champions League this season, host United, who didn't even qualify for the Europa League, as favorites despite having a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford on their record for the season. It happened before Christmas and, although a brilliant David de Gea display rather flattered United's overall performance -- as it so often has -- the Merseyside club were hurt. But it was as if Brendan Rodgers had told his players: "Enough is enough -- our season starts here.''
After that game, Liverpool were left stuck in mid-table, with just 21 points from 16 games. They have not lost in the Premier League since, taking 33 points from 13 games and performing with such impetus that Rodgers has set a target of second place. That would be for the second season running -- and a great achievement given not only the loss of Luis Suarez and time's march on Steven Gerrard but the twin burdens, while Europe lasted, of domestic and overseas competition.
Victory over United would send Rodgers' side above Louis van Gaal's. But that the Liverpool coach wants his men also to climb above Arsenal and a faltering City, who beat them to the title last season, is further evidence that they will push Chelsea for supremacy next season. Indeed think Rodgers, if he can be retained by the Fenway Sports Group, might eventually be recognized as Liverpool's best coach since the days of Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.
The way he has recast the team during this campaign, reviving the skills of Philippe Coutinho and consolidating Jordan Henderson in an adaptation of the leadership role occupied for many years by the technically superior Gerrard, marks his work out as a cut above the norm. With his team's next two assignments -- first United and then, after the international break, Arsenal at the Emirates -- any remaining doubters can be silenced.
